A happy night of nothing

[JSeaman]

For years I haven't had a night I enjoyed so much as last night without actually achieving anything in terms of imaging.

The first easy task was getting my NEQ6 5A supply up and running and said goodbye to the flickering power light.

Then came the fun stuff, I removed my ST4 cable from the QHY5 to the mount and had my first go at using EQMod. Although the interface is a little crude, the functionality is good. I used Cartes Du Ciel for the first time and slewed to my target almost perfectly.

I managed to get PHD guiding through EQMod too and rebuilt my moonlite focuser with new bearings so that's running once again.

To finish the evening I also cut out a steel base which will be used to automate the observatory I collect this weekend, a very successful night.

The only downside was that I had black blobs on the image from the QHY8L so I guess I'm cleaning lenses again this evening!

One question while I'm here, does anyone know the EQMod parameter that affects the alignment steps in PHD2 as it was much slower to set up than I'm used to?

Thanks

James

[Waldemar]

Hi James,

I cannot answer your question about EQMod, but it is very nice to read you had such a good experience
Keep up the good vibes and enjoy, for that is what it is all about!

[alacant]

1 hour ago, JSeaman said:

EQMod parameter that affects the alignment steps in PHD2

Hi. Maybe you mean calibration steps? If so, it's the guide speed. The default is 0.1x sidereal. Go for at least 0.5 on both DEC and RA and use 1.0s for the guide calibration pulses. HTH.

[JSeaman]

Perfect, many thanks indeed - I was just reading around this area!